The Conflict Between The Conscious mind and Subconscious mind & how to align them

Both the conscious and Subconscious mind play a crucial role in our day to day decisions, behaviors and choices.

An alignment between the two ensures a cordial working relationship unlike a conflict that leads to a disconnect between our desired reality and reality, desired version of selves and selves, our conscious intentions and reality.

The differences Between the Conscious and Subconscious mind;

The conscious mind is the part of the mental activities we are aware of. The thoughts, memories, stimulus, fantasies and activities we’re aware of.

The Subconscious mind on the other hand is the part of our mind that works just below our awareness. It’s a vast bank of all the memories, feelings, voices and experiences we have accumulated over our lifetime..

•You probably remember your identity (name) thanks to the subconscious mind. •You probably can walk without consciously focusing on every of your step thanks to the subconscious mind.

•Your probably can eat while focusing on a television, thanks to the subconscious mind.

Many are only aware of the conscious mind and believe it’s in control but the subconscious mind plays a huge role. Over 90% of our daily thoughts, feelings and habits are controlled by the subconscious mind. This means the subconscious mind exponentially controls over 90% of our lives.

“The conscious mind thinks it’s in control but the subconscious is relaxed knowing it’s in control most of the time”

Working Between the Two;

The conscious mind and the subconscious mind work in tandem with each other.

Anytime the conscious mind sleeps, the subconscious mind automatically takes over.

For instance; Anna is taking a meal with her focus fully attuned to her plate. Suddenly something on her television knocks off her attention from her plate making her to now shift her attention to the television while still eating. The subconscious mind automatically took over the eating process as her concious mind which controls attention slept off from the eating activity to the television.

The subconscious mind also takes over the mental processes whenever we go to sleep.

The Concious Mind impresses while the subconscious stores and later expresses.

The conscious mind receives information from the five senses. Repeated exposure to the same stimulus makes it to become imprinted in the subconscious mind. A stimulus that come with a strong emotion however doesn’t need repetition.

•What we call habit is just a repeated action.

•What we call a belief is just repeated thoughts.

•What we call a memory is just an experience that either repeatedly occured to us or happened once with a strong emotion.

•What we call Trauma or Addiction is just an experience associated with a strong emotion but on different spectrums.

•Automatic Processes such as walking , eating, talking and driving are just actions the subconscious mind automatically do after we consciously learnt them.

Marketers and politicians well aware of this use it in their marketing strategies. As it goes;

“Repetition creates belief”

The subconscious mind is like a womb of the mind.

The conscious mind makes a decision and the subconscious mind steps in to execute.

Anytime you want to make a decision, a choice or take an action, it’s the conscious mind in action. The subconscious mind however steps in to help the small brother execute it based on what it learnt in the past as easy, familliar, right or suitable.

For instance; When asked the answer to the sum of 1 and 1 , your subconscious mind helps you recall it’s 2.

An intention to move to somewhere will be followed by the subconscious mind which takes over the process of moving the body to the desired location.

Faced with a choice to make between two stimulus, you will probably take the most familliar and suitable, thanks to the subconscious mind.

A desire to steal something is met by a resistance, thanks to the subconscious mind which knows stealing to be bad.

Even though they work in tandem, sometimes the two clash when the programming of the subconscious mind works against the wishes of the conscious mind.

Conscious desires and wishes might be;

•The kind of spouse we want.

•The type of life we wish to live.

•The Qualities we would wish to have.

•Where we want to live

•What time we want to wake up tomorrow.

These wishes might never be fulfilled when the subconscious mind works against them. So what are some of the signs that the two processes might be sabotaging each other?

Signs of conflicts between the Conscious mind and the Subconscious mind;

1. Repeated Mistakes- What many call Repetition Compulsion, we do something wrong again and again .

– We choose the wrong partners again and again.

– We go to unhealthy jobs again and again.

– We choose chaotic relationships again and again.

2. Constant Procrastination – It’s always tomorrow or later. I will do it later or tomorrow. Nothing seems urgent and before we know it, there many tomorrow’s we have promised ourselves but they never arrived.

3. Self-Sabotage.

As humans, we consciously love ourselves. We make decisions that are suitable for us, actions that propels us forward and make choices that ensure success.

But sadly this isn’t the case especially when the layer underneath our conscious mind has been programmed to work against these conscious desires.

– We quit a relationship when it has just started working out.

– We mess up in that job when we’re just about to earn that promotion.

– We cause a conflict in that relationship when it has just started working out.

– We slip back to those harmful habits when we know the dangers they pose.

Why and we love ourselves?

The Conscious mind is like a dreamer but needs the help of the subconscious mind to execute. When the hidden scripts running in the background works against what we consciously dream of or desire, the decisions, actions and choices equally work against them. 

When our conscious desire conflicts with our subconscious programming eg; beliefs, expect a war and most likely the Subconscious wins.

It hence suffice to make the two work together. So how do we adress the conflict?

How to Adress the Conflict between the Conscious and Subconscious mind;

1. Awareness.

Carl jung once said; “Untill we make the unconscious concious it will direct our lives and we shall call it fate”

Awareness is the first step to transformation for without it we won’t be able to make a change.

Beware of what the subconscious mind is, how it differs from the conscious mind, the role it plays in habits, beliefs, and success and the science behind it’s programming.

2. Recognize and Pause.

Mindfulness with clarity has this power to weaken the enemies within. Anytime a subconscious pattern resurfaces, (they always do) respond with curiosity instead of frustration or judgement. 

Recognize any moment you want to fall back to the same loop, pause and take an action or decision that align with the higher version of you and your conscious desires.

Observe your thoughts, emotions and habits without judgement.

3. Align the Conscious and Subconscious mind through Meditation.

Ancient spiritual teachers would probably avouch this. From the hermetic teachings that label the Conscious mind as the masculine mind while the subconscious mind is the feminine mind. To make them work together, the hermetic believe meditation is the cure .

By meditation we choose a silent place, close our eyes and divorce our focus from the external world and redirect it inside where we focus on our breathing or the middle part of our brains or just the total silence.

Meditation coupled with other practices such as repeated positive affirmations and Visualizing our desired goals is highly recommended.

3. Program the Subconscious mind through Repetition. 

If some of the programming that are running against our conscious desires were programmed through repetition, can we too reprogram them through repetition? Yes.

This is where repeated positive affirmations, positive actions and habits that propels us to growth come through.

Robert Greene, the author of the 48 laws of power and The laws of Human Nature, is a great crusader of this.

This requires consistency and commitment . Conscious efforts later become automatic Subconscious programmes.

Failure and slipping back to old patterns here shouldn’t be perceived as setbacks but feedbacks on areas that need improvement.

4. Align your Conscious intentions with Decisions. 

In other words, try to make your words the law.

•A conscious intention to wake up at 7 am tomorrow followed by the action…

••A conscious intention to attain some goal followed by the action…

•A conscious intention finish up the task followed by the task to completion.

All this help to build trust between the conscious and the subconscious mind. You do not expect to win the big battles if you can’t win the small battles. You do not expect the conscious mind to command the subconscious mind in big tasks if you can’t control it in small intentions.

In conclusion, the conscious mind and subconscious mind are two mental activities that play a vital role in our daily habits, choices and the decisions we make. A conflict between the two exponentially causes a conflict between our desires and reality,, our wishes and reality. It’s hence suffice to align the two to work together for our own benefits.